Memory
Because Senko no Ronde was running on NAOMI hardware, Border Down remained an exclusive title on the Dreamcast, and even G.Rev themselves said they weren't really interested in working on any next-generation hardware at the time due to financial constraints, everyone was expecting the game to have a home on Sega's ill-fated console. Much to everyone's surprise, it didn't happen; the official announcement came from very tiny snippets taken from reports in 2005's Tokyo Game Show which said that Senko no Ronde was confirmed to be one of the titles on the Xbox 360. Some cheered, several cursed and questioned G.Rev's decision for bringing it to a doomed system in Japan, others tried using petitions to convince Hiroyuki Maruyama to reconsider at least a Dreamcast port sometime in the future, and a few people like me who never even thought about getting a 360 just changed their mind. Senko's fate was essentially sealed when the developer finally posted screenshots of the game for Microsoft's console early in March of the following year with the letters Rev. X right below the original text, which essentially implied that once this game is completed, G.Rev will see no point in considering another port to a different platform unless a publisher decides to do that work for them.
Since Senko no Ronde originally ran in 480p and Microsoft mandated that every game released on the Xbox 360 must have a minimum resolution of 720p, it was delayed for several months in order to meet this standard, with a July release date announced at around the same time those new images were posted on the website. As the inevitable day drew closer, G.Rev's Western fanbase was dying to know its regional compatibility in hopes of importing it right away to avoid suffering either the possibility of the game not seeing the light of day on this side of world or waiting several more months in order to play it. G.Rev responded by officially apologizing in their newsletter which said that they were not the publisher (okay, they didn't actually say that, but Sega was the publisher for it in Japan yet they didn't put their name on the box's cover), and the decision made was to keep it exclusive to NTSC-J consoles. This revelation angered several owners of non-Asian systems, with others trying to make them feel even more miserable by mocking them for buying one so quickly and foretelling a future where Senko no Ronde's existence is ONLY ON XBOX 360 in Japan.
Four Roses
The Japanese release of the Xbox 360 port came in two flavors: a limited edition which sold out almost instantaneously upon release and a regular edition. Other than the artwork for the covers being different, the limited edition comes with a small sticker that has game's new title logo as well as a drama CD that throw the characters into more lighthearted situations instead of the depressing emo drama which seem to occur with almost everyone in the game's plot.
If you ordered a copy of the game from Sega Direct, you also get a nice B2 poster for free, but you need to have a valid mailing address in Japan in order to be able to get stuff from that online store.
Around two months after Senko no Ronde's debut in Japan, Cyberfront and Gene X Korea decided to release this game over there. Just like in Japan, there were also two flavors: the first print and the regular edition. The only difference between the two is that the first print edition came with a special postcard set, which looks like it was only exclusive to Korea, and contains just about every single image that's found in that nice B2 poster, except it's in postcard form. The print quality isn't that great however, but considering that the game itself costs about 49,000 won (or about 53 dollars), I wouldn't be complaining much. Since Play-Asia ran out of first print editions of the Korean version of the game, I've been nice enough to scan and fix all (YES, ALL) of them for your viewing pleasure, which can be seen at the end of this feature. Also like the Japanese release, the Korean version of Senko no Ronde also only runs on Japanese or Asian Xbox 360s.
The most amusing thing about the Korean edition of Senko is that although the game packaging and included manual has Korean text on it, the game itself is still in Japanese. Way to go Cyberfront Gene X.
Digital Trip
Those who were able to plan ahead and acquire a Japanese Xbox 360 in order to play Senko no Ronde while having an adequate feel for the arcade version were in for quite a few surprises. The first change noticed when the game boots up is that the attract mode is fully voiced, and because it's voiced, the attract mode uses a different song, but combines this new song with the second half of the original attract music once the narration is over. Another big change is the control scheme, as by default, the button configuration on the Xbox 360 controller looks like this:
The Action button doesn't exist on this control scheme, while the Dash, Barrier, Barrage, and B.O.S.S. functions have been given their own buttons while simultaneously adding a mysterious ability simply dubbed Overdrive. When a player accidentally presses this button, a yellow antifield disperses from the center of your Rounder and continues to expand until it disappears from the screen's view. Other than doing that, your Rounder will slowly begin to lose life in exchange for a faster Charge Gauge recovery. Your attack power increases and the amount of damage you normally take is slightly reduced. If your opponent goes into B.O.S.S. mode while this is activated, Overdrive mode will be suspended until it is over. If you enter B.O.S.S. mode yourself or if you lose all of your life, Overdrive mode is automatically disabled. Overdrive mode can only be activated once per round, so good judgement is needed in order use this ability effectively, otherwise you'll just dig your own grave faster.
Although G.Rev attempted to accommodate the game controls for an Xbox 360 gamepad, just like with Virtual On, the experience doesn't feel right unless you're using an arcade stick. Senko no Ronde needs all of the required digits of your hand to be hovering on the buttons at all times, and the thumb is easily overwhelmed by trying to handle four face buttons at once; for example, if you wanted to dash and immediately use your sub weapon the moment your dash starts, you might hit either X or B on accident as you were trying to slide your thumb over to the Y button. Lili players will develop carpal tunnel syndrome faster than others from trying to figure out a playable control scheme on the gamepad primarily because they need to hold down X to charge up their Main Weapon, which presents an agonizing quandary: how do you dash, utilize your sub weapon, or even attempt using your special moves when your thumb is already busy holding down the X button?
A Mirage of Mind
Senko no Ronde's graphics engine received a major overhaul from its arcade counterpart. That mini-status display right beside your Rounder now takes up about 1/8th of the game's screen, which also lists your character's costume, your Gamertag, and how many times you can enter B.O.S.S. mode. You also cannot move into this area, although projectiles will be able to fly through there. Another big change is how the stage backgrounds are set up: most have two scrolling directions, and depending on what both Rounders are doing during the match, the speed and even the direction of the scrolling will change accordingly. The new scrolling method is rather over the top at times for almost all of the stages as smart use of the camera gives you a good illusion of momentum. Other additional effects were added too, such as the lighting effects used depending on the stage (your Rounders are darker on certain space stages), and if a light source flew near your Rounder or if a light source was near a smoke trail left behind by a missile, they'd also light up as well. The portraits that appear when the characters start speaking look much nicer and more numerous than their arcade counterpart, and subtitles appear during story mode and before and after their B.O.S.S. transformation as well as when someone wins. Motion blur effects are used whenever a player makes their opponent fly back from CC attacks or when someone enters B.O.S.S. mode.
The B.O.S.S. transformation sequences for almost all of the characters have been improved drastically; before said transformation happens, that crazy light show that occurs when you use your bomb in Under Defeat appears, while everything on the screen becomes distorted before a field disperses from the center of your rounder which gives a negative film effect to the background that fades out. Although they take a little bit longer than they did in the arcade version, it's all for the better. However, Changpo and Lili's Final B.O.S.S transformations don't look as good as their arcade counterparts for some reason, although Changpo's normal B.O.S.S. mode looks a lot better, so it's an equal tradeoff.
There's also a few other things to nitpick about so purists have a legitimate reason to say that this isn't a perfect port of the arcade version, which it already isn't because its resolution is 720p. The game loads for at least five seconds (!) before a match begins, which was unheard of in the arcade version. When Lili does her Sub CC attack, the accompanying sound effects when she teleports and reappears don't occur. Fabian says something different when he does his Blitz Arrow special move. Although there's more capital ships flying around in Sakurako's stage and there's more explosions that occur in the background in every direction,(some of them even occur right where you're fighting), all of the capital ships are missing that cool thruster effect seen when they're flying around.
You also don't see a cut-in illustration for each character's non-final B.O.S.S. transformation, but since the arcade version only used one of the character's costumes for all of the B.O.S.S. mode sequences, it wouldn't make any sense to include it here since they'd make G.Rev look too lazy or broke to afford Shuji Sogabe and Mizuki Takayama to do all of the individual costume cut-in illustrations for all of the normal B.O.S.S. transformations. The explosions the Rounders make when they lose the round also feels incomplete; the explosion only has a dark purple cloud and lacks the bright pink cloud which signifies the start of the explosion. Not only that, the sound of the explosions, B.O.S.S. or otherwise, is nowhere near as loud as its arcade counterpart. Also, when a match ends in Versus mode, the screen just fades out instead of using that cool circle effect that turns the screen black before the match starts.
There's also other minor things to nitpick about in the Xbox 360 port, which can be found here.
Why do you come back?
Other than the five second loading time, my only other personal complaint about this game is that it's missing a replay feature since even doujin games have one, but these little details should be the least of your worries though as everything else in the game more than makes up for it. G.Rev completely revamped Story Mode; like in the arcade version, there are two endings for each character, and getting the good ending requires you to draw out the fight so you force your opponent to enter B.O.S.S. mode (sometimes you have to do it yourself too), but you don't always fight the same last boss in the Xbox 360 port if you're heading for either the good or the bad endings, while some of the fights that were found in the arcade version also include additional dialog. Some of the still images that you saw in the arcade version for each character's "good" ending as the credits rolled are also in here, except they're voiced this time and take place before the staff roll, with some of the dialog taken directly from Ballistic Messiah, the first official Senko no Ronde mook (a book that has the layout of a magazine with full-color illustrations and is usually anime-oriented) that was released near the end of 2005. An interesting thing to note about Story Mode is that Cuilan's, Sakurako's, Lili's, and Fabian's "good" endings for the arcade version actually are the "bad" endings in the 360 port.
Score Attack mode is finally separated from each Story Mode in this version. There are a total of ten stages in Score attack mode, with eight of them being one of the playable characters and two of them being the special bosses that you fight in story mode. The game randomly determines the character order and what cartridge they use (except for the mirror match, where the CPU will take the cartridge opposite of what you've chosen), except for the fifth and last stage, which are always the same. The aim of this mode is to hoard up all of your B.O.S.S. stock and not use them to even recover lost life since they add to your final score as you force your opponent to enter B.O.S.S. mode twice so you can blow it up for huge score bonuses while simultaneously not getting hit as the game doubles the score for this if you take no damage, but the stage must end with your Armor Gauge full; if you started the next stage and your Armor Gauge wasn't full yet you took no damage, you won't get the score bonus. You have a set amount of "lives" before score attack mode automatically ends, and you automatically get an additional B.O.S.S. stock and life after you hit a certain score. In the Final Stage, if you fail to defeat the boss, Score Attack ends, regardless how many extra lives you have remaining, but you will unlock the achievement for that character as well as unlocking the special features related to that character for Score Attack.
If you're connected to Xbox Live after your Score Attack session ends, your totals will be placed onto the worldwide leaderboards for that character. This is a pretty awesome feature and it really helps extend the longevity of the game since we must show our superiority to Japan one of these days and this is the perfect opportunity to demonstrate it, so get this game already and overthrow them.
When you finish Score Attack mode with someone, you'll unlock the art gallery for that character's Rounder. These concept art and sketches were also found in Ballistic Messiah, except they're now viewable on your Xbox 360, which means that you saved an additional 10 dollars or so by getting this game! You are also able to see a bigger version of that character's in-game Rounder on a separate screen. Finishing Story Mode with someone automatically unlocks the miscellaneous art gallery and gives you access to the Arcade Story Mode so you can also enjoy experiencing the confusion Japanese players were having with the story. You'll also unlock that character's art gallery which shows you all of the costumes and illustrations used so far up until this port was published in Japan, and many of these too were also found in Ballistic Messiah, so you just saved a few more dollars just buying this game alone. If you finish Story Mode with everyone and get their good endings, you'll also unlock Demonstration Mode, which will probably help alleviate the confusion people were having with the story because it would explain the events that occurred between each stage so you have a general idea of why they're fighting.
They fly like a bird
Versus Mode is available if you have two controllers active on the Xbox 360.The only real difference between here and the arcade version is that after both players select their characters, they are now presented with the option to choose what stage they want to fight in, whereas in the arcade version, the stage would be determined based on the character chosen for the player who was challenging the winner. Although it's not documented in the manual anywhere (I even had to look online for this one), the second phase songs of each stage can be played if you press the Y button instead of the A button when it's selected.
One of the reasons G.Rev sided with Microsoft to port Senko no Ronde to the Xbox 360 was because it already had a solid network infrastructure to work with. If your gamertag is an Xbox gold member, you have the opportunity to play against other Xbox Live gold members who also have this game, and like with all other games of this type, there's also a ranking system in place. There are three ranks- Novice, ROUNDER, and HI-ROUNDER. The first two ranks have ten levels that must be surpassed before you move onto the next rank. The levels and rankings are determined by your overall grade, which are points received based on the performance of each player after each match. Most players should be able to reach ROUNDER rank fairly quickly even if they're not very skilled at the game since you still get some points even if you lose matches. However, once your ROUNDER level hits around 3, you will lose grade for every match lost, meaning that you have to start playing seriously at this point in order to achieve HI-ROUNDER status.
There was one problem with playing against other people online, however- G.Rev only made sure the network code was smooth throughout all of Japan. They didn't take into consideration that people from other parts of the world were smart enough to get an Xbox 360 that was compatible with their game and try to play it against the Japanese. Games were tolerable if they were within 3000 miles away from each other, but if they were farther than that, expect to see at least 1 second latency after inputting a command. This really sucked because I was pretty much left out of the fun, since Japanese players would automatically disconnect if they were experiencing lots of lag.
Morning Kisses
In typical G.Rev fashion, the home port of Senko no Ronde also has another CD's worth of brand new music. When the OST to the arcade tracks was released, I've always found it odd that Yasuhisa Wanatabe added a new melody to North Star which wasn't used in the arcade version and this was fixed in the Xbox 360 port of the game, as this additional melody is included. Each character has been given at least one new song where almost all of them sound dark and ominous compared to each character's phase 2 songs. Special music also played for each character when you achieve their good endings. I loved how they implemented the menu music for the game- the first 8 seconds of the track play right after you get past the title screen and the game asks you pick a storage device to load/save its data. 0:10-0:50 of the track loops when you're just hanging around the main menu. 0:51-1:31 loops when you're hanging around the submenu of your first selection, and the rest of the track loops when you're in the third submenu and beyond. Sakurako's third theme sounds like something out of Raystorm.
MP3s Download here
Link (Lili Phase 3)
Calm (Menu)
North Star (Changpo Phase 1)
Bloody Eclipse (Sakurako Phase 3)
Limitless Cinderella (Mika Phase 3)
Judgement -- Act 1 -- Eve (Karel Phase 3)
Video
Senko no Ronde promotional video
One thing you'll probably notice when you check out the costume illustrations for each character is that there's a Cartridge A costume that you can't use in the game, and all it mentions is that this is the costume used for the SP version. Yup, there was another version of Senko on its way to arcades in Japan.
|
Senko no Ronde Rev. X
Senko no Ronde Rev. X
Senko no Ronde Rev. X
Senko no Ronde Rev. X
Senko no Ronde Rev. X
Senko no Ronde Rev. X
Senko no Ronde Rev. X
Senko no Ronde Rev. X
Senko no Ronde Rev. X
Senko no Ronde Rev. X
Senko no Ronde Rev. X
Senko no Ronde Rev. X
Senko no Ronde Rev. X
Senko no Ronde Rev. X
Senko no Ronde Rev. X
Senko no Ronde Rev. X
Senko no Ronde Rev. X
Senko no Ronde Rev. X
Senko no Ronde Rev. X
Senko no Ronde Rev. X
Senko no Ronde Rev. X
Senko no Ronde Rev. X
Senko no Ronde Rev. X
Senko no Ronde Rev. X
Senko no Ronde Rev. X
|
